Three men of different ages, with varying degrees of baseball interest, saddled up to the bar at the Blake Street Tavern last Wednesday. They sipped their drinks and watched the big-screen TV, happy to see the Rockies beat the Miami Marlins to end a six-game losing streak.

All three had heard about owner Dick Monfort’s ringing endorsement of general manager Dan O’Dowd and manager Jim Tracy in the midst of one of the worst slumps in team history. All three were perplexed.

Chris Chrisman is a 35-year-old lawyer who lives in LoDo. He shares season tickets with a group of fans, attends about 30 games a year and describes himself as an “ardent” Rockies fan.

“I’m disappointed, because I don’t think upper management has a finger on the pulse of the team,” said Chrisman, who makes an annual pilgrimage to see the Rockies in spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz. “They don’t seem to understand what’s not working, and they sure don’t have a sense of the outrage of the fans. There needs to be some accountability.”

Chris McArdle, 27, is in his third season working a beer cart at Coors Field. His job allows him to gauge the fans’ mood.

“They are not happy, not happy at all,” McArdle said. “That’s not me talking, that’s what I hear. A lot of people are unhappy with Jim Tracy’s handshake deal.”

When spring training opened in February, O’Dowd announced Tracy would be the team’s manager “indefinitely.” Tracy was entering the final year of a three-year, $4.4 million contract.

“I like Jim Tracy, I feel for him,” said 65-year-old Lee Scherfel, who lives in LoDo about three blocks from Coors Field. “But I think this team is underachieving. O’Dowd has simply not provided the pitching Tracy needs to compete. I do think the position players are there.”

Scherfel used to coach junior varsity baseball and girls softball at D’Evelyn High School. A self-described baseball fanatic, he strolls to the ballpark just after first pitch and buys his ticket off the street.

He calls Coors Field “a masterpiece,” and said it took his breath away the first time he walked inside.

Yet he can’t understand how the Rockies keep drawing so well with what has become a mediocre product. The Rockies averaged nearly 36,000 fans a game last season, 12th in baseball. This year, they are averaging 32,222 a game, 13th in the majors.

“It’s a cash cow,” Scherfel said. “They are going to milk this as long as they can. I wonder how long it will be before the fans quit going? I’ll keep going because I’m a baseball schmuck. I go to watch the other teams coming in here. I mean, when Doc (Roy) Halladay comes in with the Phillies, I’m there. But if the Rockies stay this bad, fans will quit coming out.”

Monfort vehemently disagrees with the idea that Rockies ownership doesn’t care about winning.

“We want a championship. We haven’t drawn 3 million fans in what, I don’t know, 15 years probably? And that’s what we want. That’s our standard.”

Actually, the last time the Rockies drew 3 million fans to Coors Field was in 2001. But ever since their dramatic World Series run in 2007, attendance has been on the upswing. Last year, despite winning just 73 games, the Rockies drew more than 2.9 million fans.

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